


Sailing towards our dream

by BucketLover



Series: The Sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Gen, Nakamaship, Water 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 08:31:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13384068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BucketLover/pseuds/BucketLover
Summary: Usopp has doubts about being on the Thousand Sunny after he left the crew for his own selfish reasons. Luffy reassures him that he earned his place there and encourages him to fight for his dream.





	Sailing towards our dream

**Author's Note:**

> I know that some other people probably did this scenario and I'm late but who cares about that? Anyway, enjoy!!!

The deck of the Thousand Sunny was unusually quiet. The only sound were the waves hitting the hard Adam wood that crafted the ship. The sky was dark and the sun could barely be seen from under the dark waters. 

On the lone ship that anchored in the middle of the ocean stood a young man. And not just anyone, this man was Monkey D. Luffy: Captain of the Straw Hat pirates with an impressing bounty of 300.000.000 Bellys.

He was currently seated barefoot on the grass that was decorating his ship. Dinner was served a long time ago and his crewmates decided to retire early. It was a long day after all. They were awoken at 4 in the morning by a group of pirates that they had to take care of. And until late in the afternoon they had their hands full with one of the ruthless storms of the Grand Line. The sky was clear now and sigh escaped Luffy's lips as he thought about all the things that have happened recently.

At the beginning of the month they lost three crewmates: their trusty ship, their sniper and their archaeologist. The last two returned after a lot of fighting and begging, but their ship wasn't so lucky. The Going Merry was now lying lonely at the bottom of the ocean. They didn't leave empty handed though. Two new comrades entered their lives: their new ship, the Thousand Sunny and Franky the cyborg shipwright that built her. Other than leaving Merry behind everything stayed the same but it was also better. Their trust and bond strengthened.

Luffy closed his eyes, allowing the salty breeze to embrace his body. His peace, however, was broken by the sound of a door opening and the captain's gaze fell to the young man now approaching him. He smiled sincerely and greeted his long nosed friend.

"Hi, Luffy," Usopp didn't respond to his smile. "Can I sit with you?" 

"Sure," Luffy answered noticing the sadness in his friend's eyes. "What's wrong?" 

The sniper didn't answer as he sat down beside Luffy, avoiding his gaze. He looked up at the sky trying to put his thoughts into words but after a few minutes of silence only one thing came out.

"I wanted to talk to you," Usopp's voice was unsure and his answer was barely audible to the person beside him.

"About what?" Luffy was patient but he grew more concerned by the minute.

Silence befell them again. The sniper knew what he wanted to say, he has been thinking about this ever since they left Water 7. He repeated this conversation in his head many times, yet the words couldn't leave his mouth. In the end, he whispered a small sentence that had a huge meaning. 

"I'm sorry," Luffy knew exactly what Usopp was talking about, but he thought they left everything behind.

"Usopp, you don't have t-" His words were interrupted by the sniper.

"Please, let me finish. It was a mistake, I shouldn't have flipped out like that. I knew, I knew all along that Merry wouldn't make it, but I was stubborn. I challenged you to a fight I knew I couldn't win," Usopp took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves and the tears that were about to fall, "I guess, I was scared." 

Luffy's eyes widened at the statement but didn't interrupt the sniper anymore.

"I was scared because I thought that if we threw Merry away the same would happen to other useless members of the crew. I'm just a lying coward who couldn't swallow his pride. Yet, I am here, on this ship, sailing with my captain who forgave me after I disobeyed his orders and left the crew. I called myself Sniperking so I could fight alongside you and in the end I believed that I was forgiven," Usopp kept his head lowered the whole time, "I'm pathetic. You had to be almost past the horizon when I finally realized that you were leaving. It took me that long to apologize. I don't deserve to be here, Luffy." 

Usopp finally raised his gaze and looked at his captain in the eye. "The future Pirate King doesn't need people like me in his crew. If you don't want me, that's alright. I can jus-"

"Usopp," Luffy's voice was stern and didn't show any emotion. "Do you want to leave this crew?"

The sniper was taken by surprise but he answered, without hesitating. "No, I want to be here. I couldn't imagine my life any other way."

"Then, it's decided," Luffy smiled his signature smile and looked away from Usopp. "What happened is in the past. You made some mistakes, but I did too. I shouldn't have handled it like I did. You realized that you made a mistake so it's fine now. You earned your place on this ship a long time ago."

After that they sat in silence. Tears were falling down Usopp's cheeks but he wiped them and hoped his captain hadn't noticed. The sniper knew he did, though. He was glad Luffy was silent about it.

"It was hard for us too, you know?" Usopp was confused as to what the other pirate was talking about. 

"Merry. Leaving her behind wasn't an easy decision." 

"I know," Usopp answered smiling softly, remembering their old comrade. "She still lives on, though. She always will."

"That's right. As long as we keep sailing towards our dream she will always be with us," Luffy chuckled and closed his eyes as he fell on his back enjoying the cool night. 

"Alright, I decided," Usopp exclaimed and Luffy looked in his direction, confused. 

"I will become the real Sniperking! Something less would be shameful for the Pirate King's crew, after all." In his eyes there was a glint of pride as he thought about it. How lucky he was to be here and how he was determined to keep his position. 

"Shishishi, that's right. You better keep that promise." Luffy kept smiling knowing that his friend was alright now.

Usopp also lay down on his back. The clouds in the sky parted and now thousands of stars stretched across the darkness. The grass beneath them was calming and Usopp could have fallen asleep if not for the sudden movement of his captain.

"I'm going in the crow's nest. I'm on watch tonight. You should probably get some sleep. It's been a long day." 

Luffy disappeared into the darkness and Usopp was left alone with his own thoughts again. He would do it. He definitely will. He will achieve his dream, no matter what.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment and tell me what you think!


End file.
